Hip Hop-to-fashion entrepreneur Damon Dash has come up with what should eventually be a much cooler version of QVC and Home Shopping Network with the launch of his own online lifestyle TV channel.
At the moment, Dame Dash TV is just about entertainment and comes to us courtesy of a deal with streaming TV provider FilmOn.TV networks. But it will later see a dedicated app to allow viewers to buy Dash’s Poppington apparel line, which we assume will be heavily promoted on the channel’s shows.
But it’s more interesting than just a vehicle to sell clothes, even if that vehicle is decidedly less cheesy than much of the home shopping TV content we currently see.
As well as entertainment, the millennial-focused content is offering us a heavy dose of entrepreneurship, talk shows with leading Hip Hop figures, as well as tips for budding entrepreneurs from major success stories in related sectors.
Dash has a number of guests lined up so far, including Snoop Dogg, Chris Brown, Faith Hill, Mos Def, Kelly Rowlands, RZA, Method Man and quite a few others.
Not that it’s set to be too worthy. Shows like International Grizzly, in which Dash loads up a private jet with special guests and heads to global music and fashion capitals like Amsterdam, Milan and Paris, should give us plenty of chance to indulge our appetites for the shallower side of life.
So what exactly is FilmOn? The release announcing the new network said it’s part of FOTV Media Networks Inc, the interrelated group of digital media companies that produces and distributes hologram, virtual reality, 360 and premium Hollywood content globally. It has an audience of more than 75m monthly unique users.
Dash himself has been one of music’s best-known entrepreneurs since he co-founded Roc-a-Fella Records with Jay-Z back in the 90s. He also played a big part in the launch of several major apparel lines, the best known being Rachel Roy.